1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for electrically connecting a plurality of terminals to each other, and particularly to a connector which can reduce an insertion load when fitting respective apparatus-terminals to the plurality of connector terminals.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a connector structure for electrically connecting terminals to each other, for example, a structure in which two bus bar terminals having bolt holes are superposed to communicate with each of the bolt holes, and the bus bar terminals are fastened and fixed by bolts which communicate with the corresponding bolt holes (hereinafter, referred to as a structure in the first related art), is known. In the structure in the first related art, it is necessary to insert and fasten the bolts in the bolt holes which make the two bus bar terminals be superposed and communicate so that the punched bolt holes communicate with each other. Therefore, when connecting the plural groups of bus bar terminals, the work becomes complicated since all of the bolt holes of the bus bar terminals of a connection target should communicate with each other, and the bolts which are respectively inserted into each communicating bolt hole should be fastened several times, and thus, ease of assembly or productivity of the connector is likely to be deteriorated.
Here, as a connector structure in which the terminals are connected to each other without fastening the bolts, a structure in which male and female terminals are fitted to each other (hereinafter, referred to as a structure in the second related art) is widely used. In the structure in the second related art, by inserting a male terminal into a female terminal and pressing a contact spring which includes the female terminal to a contact of the male terminal, both terminals are electrically connected to each other. Therefore, it is not necessary to fasten the bolt for connecting the terminals to each other, but it is necessary to make the contact of the male terminal abut against the contact spring of the female terminal when connecting the terminals, and to insert the male terminal into the female terminal against a biasing force (spring reaction force) of the contact spring, and a predetermined insertion force is required. Therefore, since the biasing force of each contact spring is superposed when connecting the plurality of male and female terminals at the same time, the insertion force increases as much as the biasing force, and deterioration of ease of assembly or productivity of the connector is likely to be generated similar to the structure in the first related art.
To reduce the insertion force, a connector structure in which two bus bar terminals which are superposed in advance are placed in a temporary contact state, the bus bar terminals and pinched by the contact spring which is provided in a movable block material, and the plural groups of bus bar terminals are connected to each other at the same time, is disclosed in JP-A-2011-18579 as Patent Literature 1. According to the connector structure, by pushing the block material toward the superposed bus bar terminals by the bolt, the contact spring advances to and pinches the corresponding bus bar terminal together with the block material against the biasing force of the contact spring, the temporary contact state changes into a contact state being pressed by the contact spring, and the terminals are electrically connected to each other. In addition, a connector structure in which a connecting member which is separated from the terminal, such as the corresponding contact spring, is not provided, and the plurality of terminals are connected to each other by moving one terminal of the connection target toward the other terminal by rotating the bolt, is disclosed in JP-A-2000-3757 as Patent Literature 2. According to the connector structure, even when the plurality of terminals are electrically connected to each other, since only a space for rotating the bolt may be ensured, it is possible to perform the terminal connection work, even in a narrow location.    Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2011-18579    Patent Literature 2: JP-A-2000-3757